Why the Germans Torpedoed the Lusitania

[theshadowknows]

[xpert11]

The American public backlash caused by the Lusitania's sinking was behind the Germans's pausing unrestricted submarine warfare until 1917. However, the scope of the Lusitania disaster and letting U-boats off the leash displayed German strategic ineptitude: the risk of alienating U.S. public opinion was ignored or downplayed.

Also, the Germans' 1917 gamble on winning the war before American reinforcements arrived in France failed, but that is a topic for another discussion.

[guyfriday]

We can't over look what the Lusitania was carrying on board. 
Cargo - The Lusitania Resource (rmslusitania.info)
Just a highlight a few items that might have been seen as a concern (sorry for the wierd quoting format, but it's a very long list and these items are placed oddly in the list_

Ammunition,                              cases                Liverpool                     1,271 
Cartridges and ammunition,        cases                 London                        4,200 
Military goods,                           packages           Liverpool                      189 

It is possible that some people in the Kaizers Military thought that the use of civilian ships to resupply allied forces might allow for the ship to be classed as a military target rather than just a cruise liner. Ignoring the facts that the British ship was flying an American Flag, nobody on board the German U-Boat would have known about the mission that Colonel House was. 

So here we have a well known British ship flying the colors of another country, and at the same time Germany had spies on the ground at many US shipping ports. World War I Intrigue: German Spies in New York! (historynet.com) We have to suspect that Germany might have thought (rightly or wrongly) that the Lusitania was operating on a covert mission from the Crown to help in their fight against the German Forces. 

I guess the questions for me will be, was the people on board sacrifices by the Crown in order to force the Amercian people into wanting war (much like how the Maine was used)?